Blue Jays: Not the end of the world to miss out on Joey Gallo

Yesterday evening, the Toronto Blue Jays AL East rival New York Yankees made some pretty big headlines when it was rumoured that the Bronx Bombers had landed outfielder Joey Gallo along with another prospect in exchange for four minor leaguers. As of the writing of this article, the official details have not been yet announced by the Yankees or the Texas Rangers on social media but the rumours from baseball insiders and reliable sources are starting to circle in on the official details.

The Blue Jays have reportedly kicked the tires on acquiring the hard-hitting lefty but were unable to acquire his services, losing out to a division competitor in the Yankees. On the season, Gallo is sporting a .223/.379/.490 slash line with 25 home runs, 55 RBI, and a .869 OPS.

While this may seem like a loss for the Blue Jays fanbase, the overall outlook on what Gallo would bring to the roster is something that is quite debatable, and one that may show that the organization may be better off spending elsewhere.

The Toronto Blue Jays may have missed out on acquiring outfielder Joey Gallo, but all is not lost on the trade front as the team looks to potentially shore up some weaker areas on the current roster.

For starters, the haul to acquire the Nevada product appears quite extensive, even if there was no top-five prospect included in the deal. Looking at Jeff Passan’s coverage of the trade, each prospect being sent to the Rangers is listed on the Yankees’ top thirty prospect list, with Texas appearing to go for quantity versus quality.

If the Blue Jays were to complete a trade of this stature, it would put a real dent in the prospect rankings depending on who was involved. This would not be the end of the world as the Jays do have some depth in both the catcher and infield positions and could afford to spend if necessary. A trade of this magnitude could be pulled off depending on the potential return but obviously was not enough considering Gallo appears set to be wearing the pinstripes in the near future.

For comparison sake when looking at the prospect rankings, a deal of similar stature pulled off by the Yankees would require the Blue Jays to send OF Dasan Brown, INF Rikelbin De Castro, RHP Trent Palmer, and LHP Nick Allgeyer to the Rangers. As I mentioned earlier, this would not have been a terrible trade to pull off (and one that would most likely have changed based on what the Rangers were looking for) but would have cost the Jays a few quality top prospects.

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

Another reason why the Blue Jays losing out on Gallo is not the end of the world is that he doesn’t really fill a hole on the roster.

It is no secret that the Blue Jays pitching corps is what is needing improvement, with a few arms in the bullpen and another bonafide starter most likely on the front office wish list. While adding a power bat like Gallo would be great to have, the Blue Jays currently sit first in the major leagues in terms of OPS (.782), home runs (152), and slugging (.455), so a hard-hitting slugger is not necessarily at the top of the priority list as of right now.

One stat to consider is Gallo’s strikeout numbers, as the slugger currently sits third in the league with 125 through 353 at-bats. His OPS is high because he does get his fair share of walks but the strikeouts are something the Blue Jays do not need more of, especially since they sport one of the lowest numbers in the league (as a team) with 789 on the season.

Factor in that Gallo is an outfielder, an area that the Blue Jays have more than enough depth in at the major league level, and there really is nothing to be too upset about in losing out on the former Rangers slugger. Sure you could have moved Teoscar Hernandez to the designated hitter role with Gallo in the lineup but scoring 10 runs a game and losing 11-10 isn’t really going to solve the team’s current problems.

The parts that sting the most about the Gallo deal is that he is heading to a division rival in the New York Yankees and that he is not just a rental player, meaning the Blue Jays will have to face him seven times this season (two separate series in September) and all of next year.

While it would have been nice to have another power bat in the lineup, the prospect capital to acquire Joey Gallo as well as the fact that the Blue Jays do not need another outfielder in the mix make it ok that the organization missed out on the two time All-Star.

It is time for Ross Atkins to set his sights on what the team really needs, and that is pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Time might be running out but it is not over until the final whistle blows on Friday.